Bleep and Booster first made their appearance on Blue Peter back in the
1960s (I believe 1964 although not 100% on this). They appeared on the BBC in
five minute episodes of which five or six made up one entire story written by
Dorothy Smith. I have been informed that when first shown on Blue Peter, the
title was "Booster, The Space Boy and his friend Bleep." The stories concerned
the a young boy, Booster, from Earth and his adventures with a space robot
called Bleep. Many of their adventures were released in Blue Peter annuals and
in their own annuals later on. The drawings were by the late artist William
Tymym (Tim) from Blue Peter and released by Purnell 1966. Bleep and Booster
also made it to counter and dice games as a result of their fame with Blue
Peter (more details on this to come soon). The narration was by Peter Hawkins
who also found fame doing the voices for the Daleks in Dr. Who. The sound
effects for the stories was provided by Brian Hodgson. Although Bleep and
Booster were made in black and white using still screens the stories were
extremely addictive using the effects of zooming in and out plus the screen
panning effect. Apparently Bleep and Booster were popular with Blue Peter
annuals right up to 1977. In the fifteenth Blue Peter Book released in 1978, no
Bleep and Booster was to be found - a casualty perhaps of a major blockbuster
space film released a little earlier. Below if the first of a few episodes that
still exist. Anyone having any comments or corrections etc. then please email
me at the usual address found on the navigation bar. There is also a new link
to the Bleep and Booster Book "Bleep and Booster's Space
Secret."

There is an emergency on Myron. Several Myron space craft have vanished
without trace. Myron Space Freighter 9 stands by to blast off with orders to
seek, attack and destroy the cause of the problem. Bleep and Booster arrive
unseen by Bleep's father, the Captain. Bleep is very concerned as he has never
seen his father so serious. The boys are afraid that the Captain will be angry
when he sees them so they try to leave quietly. Alas it is too late as the
space ship starts to blast off. Bleep and Booster have to hide. Whilst heading
out into deep space the boys decide to make an appearance. The Captain is
furious that they are aboard and he tells them to keep out of the way. Suddenly
the ship is taken over by a vast ray of white light. All the controls are taken
over by an alien force and the ship is remotely landed on an unknown
planet.

Cautiously the Captain and his crew step out onto the alien
planet. There appears to be no life except for some large towers with beams of
light coming from them. Suddenly the Captain and the others are caught in a
beam of white light and a voice booms out "I am the giant brain" "You are
powerless." The Captain and the crew are helpless and captured. Bleep and
Booster see all this and decide to head outside on the small rocket scooter.
They find the Captain and the crew inside one of the towers but the boys cannot
help and only just escape themselves as the white lights search for them. The
duo decide to head for a small star nearby.

There they find no sign of life and decide to have their
emergency rations of fibrous concentrate and Glucoid energisers. They then get
sleepy and fall asleep. Booster wakes with a startle. A hideous monster is
coming towards him.

As it gets closer a voice says "Help me I'm suffocating."
Booster realises that it is Bleep who is coming towards him. A fast growing
fungus has covered him. Even the rocket scooter is being attacked by the
fungus. They free themselves and then set about trying to take off but it is
useless, the scooter is damaged. They take out the rocket packs and attach them
to their backs. They then blast off into deep space. They are soon intercepted
by another Myron space ship. A rescue party has a fleet of ships standing by
all with the deadly delta disintegrator gun. They will deal with the Giant
Brain and the fungus. The fleet arrive at the fungal planet and using the delta
disintegrators they destroy the fungus. They then move onto the Giant Brain
planet. The Giant Brain knows they are coming and uses the white ray on the
fleet, but the rescue ships reflect this ray back to the towers and thus
destroys the structures. The rescue party then rescue the captives and destroy
the Giant Brain before returning home.

And as with all the other Little Gems of television, so
ends another wonderful adventure series. Beautifully drawn and sketched with a
great story line. No fancy effects or expensive animation because quite simply
it wasn't needed. Sadly we will definitely not see the like of this adventure
series again.

Any thoughts, suggestions, comments etc. then please email
me at the usual address.